A 2 Day Live & Interactive Online Event!

$199

Stage 32 is gearing up for our first ever Online Screenwriting Conference - an exclusive 2 day online event bringing together TOP industry leaders including executives from Art/Work Entertainment (ARRIVAL, ARROW), Whitewater Films (TRANSPARENT, PUNCHING THE CLOWN), Cold Iron Pictures (SWISS ARMY MAN, DON'T THINK TWICE), and writers like Joaquin F. Palma (writer on Hulu's EAST LOS HIGH) and Oscar-nominatedMeg LeFauve (INSIDE OUT, THE GOOD DINOSAUR, and the upcoming CAPTAIN MARVEL), and many, many more!

Join us for 2 days,10 panels and 20 speakers talking about the craft and business of the screenwriting industry right now. Plus, since the conference takes place online you can attend no matter where you live!

Interested in attending? Can't make it live? No problem! It will be recorded and you can watch on-demand!

Screenwriting Conference Schedule

Conference Sessions At-A-Glance

All times are PDT (Los Angeles, CA Time), but sessions will be recorded and you can watch later on-demand.

Conference Sessions In Detail

Meg LeFauve was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for co-writing the script for Pixar's Inside Out. She was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards in 1999 for producing The Baby Dance. She also produced the 2002 film The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. She also wrote the script for The Good Dinosaur (and also co-wrote the story). LeFauve is currently writing the script for the live-action Captain Marvel movie alongside Nicole Perlman and is attached to co-direct Disney’s Gigantic.

10am - 11:30am

Screenwriting Structure Rules – Save or Shoot the Cat?

Over the past few years, due to the rise of a number of popular screenwriting “How to” books, writers have been trained to structure their screenplays in a paint by number fashion. Your inciting incident happens here. Your first act break must happen on a certain page. Flashbacks are taboo. Voiceover is worse. What’s the real deal? What is truly a deal breaker for a manager, agent, development exec, producer or anyone else you’re targeting with your material? Aren’t rules made to be broken? Our esteemed panel will tell you what’s tolerable and what’s taboo in today’s marketplace.

Ask three writers which act proves the most difficult for them and you very well may get three different answers. That’s because nothing about a screenplay is easy. Get your 1st act off to a slow start and you may lose your reader before the 1st act break. Wander too far in your 2nd, so-called Fun and Games Act, and you could obliterate your narrative. And even if you nail Acts I & II, closing the deal requires a balancing act of finesse and prowess. Fortunately, many of these pitfalls are not only common, they’re easy to avoid. We’ll take you through the jungle of all three Acts and get you to safe passage.

All writers obsess over their main character. They hear him or her speaking to them from the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep, and sometimes even in their dreams. But what makes a character compelling? What makes an audience want to follow that character? As important, writers spend so much time on their main character, they forget about their secondary characters, allowing them to fall into caricature. Why do some characters work in outline and fail on the page? Why do so many writers struggle with secondary character? This panel will explore ways to make your characters pull the reader along for a page turning ride.

Writing & Selling TV Scripts in a New World – Writing a Hit Amazon, Netflix, Hulu or Cable Show

It’s no secret that there are more television scripts being purchased now than at any time in history. More and more feature writers are looking to cash in on the gold rush happening in paid TV and streaming. And with over 500 original shows planned for 2017 (and those are only the ones making it to air!), who can blame them? But it’s not enough to have an original idea. You must understand what goes into writing a hit TV show in this new world of the “golden age” of TV.

Pitching. Some love it, some hate it. All must know how to do it. Whether it’s an elevator pitch, a 30-60 second pitch, a 5, 10 or 30 minute pitch or a general meeting lunch, you have to know how to pitch your idea from McNugget to full world. Similarly, you have to know who you are pitching. What they are looking for? What projects have they done in the past? Pitching is not only an art, it’s about knowledge – knowledge of you, your brand, your story, the story of your script and the story of the person or people you to whom you are pitching. Scary? Nah. We got you covered.

Getting Legal – What You Should Know Before You Dot the “I’s” and cross the “T’s”

Copyrights, securing intellectual property, writing someone’s life story without rights, stories that are public domain, option agreements, purchase agreements, exclusive rights agreements. These are just some of the legal issues you’ll face as a writer. But not every move you make requires an attorney. And not every offer you receive might be the best move for your career. This panel will demystify some of the most common questions and conundrums you’ll face as writer in an effort to assure that you protect yourself, your career, and your work.

How to Get Your Foot in the Door: Networking, Etiquette & Branding Yourself as a Writer

Many writers believe that their only job is to write. Wrong. A thousand times, wrong. In today’s competitive climate, writers need to be more visible than ever. This means creating an online persona, treating networking as a job, and conducting yourself in a way that makes people want to help, champion or work with you. If you are serious about becoming a successful writer, networking, proper etiquette (online and offline) and branding are to be ignored at your own peril. And no one likes peril. Allow our expert panelists to guide you toward success in these growing areas of importance.

What’s Happening in the Market Now – The Manager/Writer Relationship in 2017

You found representation, now what? What meetings do you take? Will you get staffed on a show? What percentage do you cut to your manager when you sell your script? In this industry panel, you’ll learn the in’s-and-out’s of what you as a writer need to bring to the table on a daily basis to your manager and in turn, what your manager should be doing for you, in order for you to succeed.

Do you have what it takes to survive the Stage 32 Pitch Tank? We're bringing in 4 judges - a manager, an agent, a producer and a development executive to listen LIVE to up to 5 screenwriter's pitches. All conference attendees are invited to join! Watch and learn from each of the panelists perspectives what makes a good pitch. Are you ready to pitch? Bring it on during the Stage 32 PITCH TANK!